Inside The Bills

With jack-of-all-trades LB Reggie Torbor and DE Dwan Edwards now on I-R and the likes of rookies Antonio Coleman and Alex Carrington helping to fill those voids, Buffalo’s defensive scheme will not have as many wrinkles as it usually does this week. Head coach Chan Gailey explains why.

“You have to monitor how you set things up,” said Gailey. “They have to handle every call, but what you do is you set the game plan up to be a little simpler, a little easier to understand. You don’t do all the subtle things you were doing earlier in the year with all those veterans in there. So really you have to scale it back for the whole defense in case you have to play one of those guys.”

Coleman is expected to handle most of those OLB duties previously manned by Torbor. At ILB Akin Ayodele and Bryan Scott are expected to divvy up Torbor’s ILB duties. And at DE, Spencer Johnson is expected to start in Edwards spot with Alex Carrington rotating in a good deal.

The Bills will already be without starting DE Dwan Edwards for the foreseeable future with a severe hamstring injury suffered last week. It looks as though another valuable veteran will also be out for a spell.

Head coach Chan Gailey indicated that LB Reggie Torbor is not expected to play this week or any time soon.

“It’ll be a long time,” Gailey said when referencing both Torbor and Edwards.

Torbor has played an important jack-of-all-trades role lining up at both inside and outside linebacker in the Bills base defense and subpackages.

“It’s a big loss for us,” said Gailey. “There are going to have to be some people that step up and play a lot of snaps for us.”

Bryan Scott and Akin Ayodele are expected to step in for Torbor in nickel and base for his ILB duties. Then Aaron Maybin and two rookies in Antonio Coleman and Arthur Moats could be spelling Torbor on the outside.

Parrish was the team’s second leading receiver and a mismatch nightmare out of the slot. He was tied for fifth in the AFC in third down catches and second only to Stevie Johnson. Seeing this offense run as smoothly as it has of late, it’s hard not to think it’s going to take some time to adjust.

Buffalo’s receiving corps is all rookies behind Evans and Johnson, though David Nelson has shown a lot of promise and has been a consistent part of the offense. Donald Jones was the next man in, but with a full week to prepare for the slot role, Nelson is a possibility moving forward.

Of course a veteran will also be considered, but unless there’s some prior knowledge of Chan’s offense I don’t see how someone from the outside would work.

Fortunately on the defensive side of the ball Buffalo has a veteran in Akin Ayodele that can fill Davis’ run down role. He earned some praise from Chan Gailey for his play Sunday.

“I thought Akin went in there and did some good things in there against the run,” said Gailey. “And we’ve had the luxury of flipping Reggie Torbor in there as well, so we’re kind of taking two guys to replace one in there.”

Buffalo currently has 51 players on their 53-man roster. More moves to come for sure.

Bills head coach Chan Gailey indicated on Wednesday who is going to be handling most of Paul Posluszny’s responsibilities on Sunday. With Poz out with a knee injury Gailey pointed to a veteran LB as the chief replacment.

“I think Keith is the guy that’s going to have to play the majority of the time,” said Gailey. “But the other guy will see quite a bit of action.”

The reason Ellison is probably going to see more of the action Sunday is because the Packers are likely going to spread the field with three and four wide sets and Ellison is a better coverage linebacker and a good fit in the nickel and dime packages. Look for Bryan Scott to factor into the subpackage linebacking coverage roles as well.

“This is an old habit for me,” said Ellison. “Ever since I’ve been here, something happens where I’m forced to play. So, my job is just to be ready and step up for this team.”

The other guy Gailey is referring to recently signed LB Akin Ayodele. Ayodele’s ability to familiarize himself with Buffalo’s defensive terminology will determine how much he does play, but being an eight-year veteran and having experience in 3-4 systems the past four seasons should shorten his learning curve and enable him to contribute on Sunday. He’ll line up in the Bills base package if it’s ever on the field.

LBs Antonio Coleman and Reggie Torbor were both declared out for Sunday’s home opener.

With Kawika Mitchell on I-R and newly signed Akin Ayodele to be inactive (per Chan Gailey) Buffalo will be down three linebackers Sunday (not counting Mitchell at this point).

Defensive coordinator George Edwards commented on the loss of Mitchell.

“It’s a tough loss for us,” he said. “Any time you’ve had a productive player, and as productive as he’s been here at our program, you lose a guy like that in the locker room. You lose him as far as consistency in his play – just calls and communication – those kinds of things.”

Edwards was glad to get a familiar face in the fold to fill the void left by Mitchell in Ayodele.

“We’re glad to get Akin in here. We got him up to speed this morning,” said Edwards. “It was great to get him in here and hopefully we look forward to progressing down the road with him.”

Chris Ellis is expected to spell Torbor in the starting lineup as he’ll handle base defense responsibilities with Aaron Maybin expected to play on that side in the nickel package.

Bills newly signed LB Akin Ayodele (pronounced AY-dell) will have to absorb the team’s defensive scheme in short order, but having played in the 3-4 scheme before, the learning curve should not be steep.

Ayodele, a nine-year vet, had been with the Dolphins the past two seasons and was in Dallas’ 3-4 scheme prior to that (2006-2007). He also has a familiarity with Bills defensive coordinator George Edwards, having played for him the past two seasons.

He can play both inside linebacker positions and is known as a tough interior run defender. At 255 pounds, he is a prototype size for an ILB in the 3-4.